U.S. patent number 5,776,229 [Application Number 08/764,450] was granted by the patent office on 1998-07-07 for oil separator rotor for lubrication enclosure.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Societe Nationale d'etude et de Construction de Moteurs d'Aviation. Invention is credited to Gerard Antoine Gilbert Blanes, Rene Joseph Antoine Cannavo, Jean Bernard Forgue, Francis Georges Albert Garnier, Michel Georges Hugues, Gilles Claude Gabriel Massot, Patrick Charles Georges Morel, Carole Claudine Touron.
United States Patent |
5,776,229 |
Blanes , et al. |
July 7, 1998 |
Oil separator rotor for lubrication enclosure
Abstract
Oil separator rotor located in an enclosure provided with an oil
reinjection system for lubricating a bearing. The oil separator
rotor, which dries the excess air passing out of the enclosure,
acts by aiding the deposition of suspended oil on the walls of a
lining or packing of the rotor. The lining is a honeycomb material
cartridge offering easy separation without excessive pressure
losses. The rotor is assembled by bolts, which interconnect the end
plates traversing the lining.
Inventors: |
Blanes; Gerard Antoine Gilbert
(Ris Orangis, FR), Cannavo; Rene Joseph Antoine
(Maincy, FR), Forgue; Jean Bernard (Saint Mery,
FR), Garnier; Francis Georges Albert (Bombon,
FR), Hugues; Michel Georges (Boise le Roi,
FR), Massot; Gilles Claude Gabriel (Voisenon,
FR), Morel; Patrick Charles Georges (Chartrettes,
FR), Touron; Carole Claudine (Vert le Petit,
FR) |
Assignee: |
Societe Nationale d'etude et de
Construction de Moteurs d'Aviation (Paris, FR)
|
Family
ID: |
9485706 |
Appl.
No.: |
08/764,450 |
Filed: |
December 12, 1996 |
Foreign Application Priority Data
|
|
|
|
|
Dec 20, 1995 [FR] |
|
|
95 15121 |
|
Current U.S.
Class: |
96/188; 55/407;
55/409; 95/270; 96/216 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B01D
45/14 (20130101); F16N 39/002 (20130101); F01D
25/18 (20130101); F01M 2013/0422 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
B01D
45/12 (20060101); B01D 45/14 (20060101); F01D
25/18 (20060101); F01D 25/00 (20060101); F16N
39/00 (20060101); F01M 13/04 (20060101); F01M
13/00 (20060101); B01D 019/00 () |
Field of
Search: |
;55/406,407,408,409
;95/261,270 ;96/177,178,187,188,189,216 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Foreign Patent Documents
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
0 286 160 |
|
Oct 1988 |
|
EP |
|
620 108 |
|
Apr 1927 |
|
FR |
|
1203718 |
|
Jan 1960 |
|
FR |
|
1 502 216 |
|
Oct 1967 |
|
FR |
|
2 696 655 |
|
Apr 1994 |
|
FR |
|
700100 |
|
Dec 1940 |
|
DE |
|
1058212 |
|
Feb 1967 |
|
GB |
|
WO 94/23823 |
|
Oct 1994 |
|
WO |
|
Primary Examiner: Bushey; C. Scott
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Oblon, Spivak, McClelland, Maier
& Neustadt, P.C.
Claims
We claim:
1. Rotor for separating oil suspended in air flowing through the
rotor with a centripetal flow, the rotor being in the form of a
collar, comprising
a separating lining in the form of a honeycomb structure having
axial air flow passages and two planar plates between which extends
said lining, one of the plates, located on an air entry side into
the lining, being perforated upstream of the lining, while the
other of the plates is solid and separated from the lining,
a plurality of bolts interconnecting the plates, said bolts
traversing the lining, and
a plurality of spacers positioned around the bolts between the
lining and the solid plate.
2. Separating rotor according to claim 1, wherein said rotor
comprises cylindrical lateral edges resting on a rotary shaft.
3. Separating rotor according to claim 1, which comprises a shell
protecting the lining and which surrounds the lining, the shell
being supported by one of the plates and being perforated around
said spacers.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an oil separator rotor for a lubrication
enclosure.
2. Discussion of the Background
Certain turbine engine bearings installed between a rotor and a
stator are lubricated by oil sprayed into an enclosure containing
the bearing and whose access is restricted by labyrinth seals
located at the junction of the fixed and rotary parts of the
enclosure. The function of the labyrinth seals is to prevent a flow
of oil out of the enclosure by making the same flow in a sinuous
path and they are completed by an air flow passing through the same
towards the enclosure.
Said air must then be discharged, but as it has become charged with
oil mist on passing through the enclosure, it could then pollute
the environment into which it would be discharged or could even
give rise to fires upon contacting hot parts of the engine.
Moreover, the oil would soon be used up in the enclosure and
lubrication would be compromised. It is for this reason that an oil
separator or oil trap must be located at the enclosure outlet. Its
function is to dry the discharged air separating from it the oil
contained therein in suspended form and to return the collected oil
to the interior of the enclosure.
An oil separator is generally a rotor formed by a rotary ring or
collar, which surrounds outlet ports of the enclosure leading to a
low pressure area. The oil-containing air is made to pass through
the collar and leave the latter and then the enclosure, by a
centripetal flow while giving off its oil, which is deposited on
the lining of the collar prior to being ejected by the centrifugal
forces produced by the rotation of the collar.
In French patent 2 696 655 the rotor is a casing filled with balls,
while in British patent 1 508 212 a porous padding is used as the
oil deposition lining.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The object of the invention is to use a rotor structure having a
high vacuum level and which at the same time is inexpensive and
light, because use is made of a honeycomb structure, already widely
used in the technical field in question for other applications,
particularly as an element of composite materials or as an
abradable lining of seals.
A separation rotor constructed with a honeycomb separating lining
is described in WO-A-94 23823. Under these conditions, the object
of the invention is to propose a more easily constructable rotor
and which is more particularly based on the use of assembly bolts
permitting both the joining together of the end plates of the rotor
and the maintaining in place of the sealing lining, by retaining
the same in particular against centrifugal forces. The rotor
according to the invention is intended to separate the suspended
oil in a centripetal air flow passing through the rotor. It is in
the form of a ring or collar having a separating lining in the form
of a honeycomb structure comprising axial air flow passages and two
planar plates between which the lining extends, one of the plates
being located on the air intake side in the lining and is
perforated in front of the lining and the other plate is solid and
separated from the lining. It is characterized in that the plates
are assembled by bolts passing through the lining and in that
spacers are placed around the bolts between the lining and the
solid plate.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The invention is described in illustrative and non-limitative
manner hereinafter with reference to the attached drawings, wherein
show:
FIG. 1 illustrates general view of a bearing in which the invention
is used.
FIG. 2 shows isolated view of an oil separator rotor according to
the invention.
FIG. 3 shows another view of said rotor.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
At present there are two oil separators on such turbojet engines.
They are located at the ends of the transmission shaft, one at the
front close to the bearing of the fan section and the other to the
rear close to the turbine bearing. It is the latter part which is
shown in FIG. 1, the transmission shaft 1. It is pointed out that
it is hollow and has a circle of orifices 2 formed through its wall
and is open at its rear end 3, which communicates with a chamber 4
under atmospheric pressure.
Finally, the shaft 1 carries and rotates the oil separator rotor 5
according to the invention and, upstream thereof, a support
equipment 6 for the inner race of a bearing 7 to be lubricated.
Opposite said rotary parts there is a fairing 8 integral with the
turbojet engine stator and which surrounds the oil separator rotor
5 and the bearing 7 in order to enclose them in an enclosure 9
which it forms with the shaft 1 and the support equipment 6. The
fairing 8 carries a conical rib 10 terminated by support equipment
11 of the outer race of the bearing 7. Said rib 10 is perforated so
as not to divide off the enclosure 9. At its ends, the fairing 8
also carries two cylindrical flanges 12 and 13 passing respectively
in front of a cylindrical flange 14 of the rotary support equipment
6 and a portion of the shaft 1. The clearances formed at these
junctions are partly filled by labyrinth seals 15 and 16. The
fairing 8 is also surrounded by an outer fairing 17 and the high
pressure air from other parts of the engine is blown into the gap
18 between the fairings 8 and 17 prior to entering the enclosure 9
through the labyrinth seals 15 and 16.
The oil flowing on the walls of the front part of the enclosure 9
passes through a passage 19 made through the lowest portion of the
rib 10 and issues in front of an oil receptacle 20. The oil coming
from the front part of the enclosure 9 and the oil from the rear
part and mainly the oil separator is accumulated in the oil
receptacle 20, being recovered by the recovery pump.
The oil supply of the enclosure 9 takes place by means of an oil
injection nozzle 22 located in the enclosure 9, against the shaft
1, close to the rear and not far from the oil separator rotor 5.
The rotary movement of the shaft 1 and the adjoining parts makes
the air of the enclosure 9 turbulent and aids the emulsifying of
the oil. An air leak flow passes towards the atmospheric pressure
chamber 4 traversing the oil separator rotor 5 and then the
orifices 2 of the shaft 1. However, the air and emulsified oil
separate and follow opposite paths to the outlet of the oil
separator rotor 5, centripetal for the first and centrifugal for
the second. The oil drops back into the enclosure 9 and the
receptacle 20 for reasons which will now be described.
The oil separator rotor 5 is shown in isolated form in FIG. 2. Its
main component is a cartridge 25 held in a front hub 26 and a cover
27 by axial bolts 28. The cartridge 25 is in the form of a collar
or ring constituted by a honeycomb structure, i.e. formed by sheets
defining rectilinear, hexagonal or polygonal cavities in general
terms. The thickness of said cartridge 25 is adequate to ensure
that the axially arranged cavities form very long channels 29
compared with the dimensions of their cross-section.
The cover 27 has a flange 32 shown in circular form here and having
wide openings 33 through which the oil-containing air reaches the
channels 29. The cover 27 also has a cylindrical portion 43 with
orifices 44 through which the oil escapes. This cover covers the
front hub 26.
As a result of the rotation of the oil separator rotor 5 there is
an oblique path of the oil droplets within the channels 29 due to
their inertia and said droplets are deposited on the walls thereof.
The separation is then complete. The front hub 26 is also
constituted by a cylindrical support plate 34 having inner flanges
31 and 35 placed on the shaft I and a planar, circular skirt 36
surrounding it. The skirt 36 is solid. Moreover, spacers 37 placed
around the bolts 28 isolate the same from the cartridge 25. This
leads to a circular channel 39 being formed between the skirt 36
and the cartridge 25 and communicating with the orifices 2 of the
shaft 11. The dried air completes the path in the centripetal sense
after leaving the cartridge 25 and reaches the shaft 1 and then the
oil deposited on the walls of the cartridge 25 is entrained by the
air passing through the channels 29 and dispersed by centrifugal
forces on leaving the cartridge 25. The advantage of the honeycomb
is that the channels 29 can be very fine or thin, which favours the
trapping of the suspended oil and their length can be considerable,
which has the same effect, but without the pressure losses being
significant. Moreover, the cartridge 25 has a light weight, is
inexpensive, can be easily constructed and also replaced should
this prove necessary.
The flanges 31 and 35 can be slid onto a cylindrical bearing
surface 40 of the shaft 1 are visible in FIG. 1, and can be jammed
between a nut 41 and a flange adaptor 42 of said bearing surface
40. Thus, the oil separator rotor 5 is easy to install. The support
plate 34 can be supported against the support equipment 6, which
reinforces the stability of the installation and the injection
nozzle 21 can issue between the shaft 1 and a plate of the hub 26
so as not to aid a premature flow of oil reinjected into the
enclosure 9 through the oil separator rotor 5, which could be the
case if it issued just upstream thereof.
Finally, a shell 43 surrounds the cartridge 25 and protects the
latter, being placed between the skirts 32 and 36 and supported by
any random one of them, either by means of bolts 28 (as shown in
FIG. 1), or by a direct connection (as shown in FIG. 2). The shell
43 is obviously provided with openings 44 in correspondence with
the circular channel 39.
The invention could be installed on other parts of the engine,
particularly in the enclosure of the fan section bearing, which
also has an oil separator rotor, as stated hereinbefore.
* * * * *